December 04, 2009

E.T., Phone ... Someone Else.

You better hope that next time you see a UFO, you're nowhere in the U.K., because there'll be no one to call any more. In a "cost-saving measure", the British government will be closing down its UFO phone and e-mail tip-lines, saving the government approximately $73,000 (US) a year. Panicked Doctor Who fans across the country react:

"I think it's a stupid thing to do because this could create a threat to national security," said Roy Lake, founder of the London UFO Studies group. "We take this quite seriously. We know that sometimes things can be explained as natural phenomena but there could be that one thing that's not. I think the government knows damn well what's going on up there and they're covering it up."

[ ... ]

Nick Pope, who helped the British military with its UFO investigations for many years, said the decision is wrongheaded.

"It's a great shame," he said. "This is the end of over 50 years of research and investigation into one of the biggest mysteries of our time."

[ ... ]

London event organizer Rachel Keane, 25, said the hotline was important.

"Who's to say there is nothing out there?" she said. "If there is, it's a bit scary that there is no one to call to inform them of what you've seen. I think someone is out there and we've got to be given a chance to report something strange if we see it."